Saturday, January 29, 2011

At 9:30 last night I decided it was the perfect time to sew a new little quilt for the cats. Why I always decide to start projects when it's really far too late in the evening to do so is beyond me. But the result is a pretty darn cute cat quilt.

If you remember, I made a tree skirt during the holidays? And the cats loved it? Well, I haven't had the heart to take it away from them, so the tree skirt has been on the floor in my living room for the entire month. Very attractive, eh?

Now, don't get me wrong, I love those little Santa Donkeys, but I think it's time for them to go into storage so they can surprise me with their cuteness next year when I'm unpacking my holiday decorations.

So, back to last night. It took me 4 hours, but I sewed up this sweet little quilt for the kitties. I'm working on a duvet cover for my bed so I just used some of the left over squares. I finally mastered getting the walking foot on my machine and was able to quilt something for the first time with lines that didn't get all shifted around and weird on the back side of the quilt. Yeah me!Dexter trying out the new quilt (after he muscled Fiona off of the quilt which would explain the slightly crazed twinkle in his eye)

Awoke this am (granted a tad late...) all filled with crafty energy so made a few little valentine's cards (family stop reading here!). :) I cut a few hearts out using my pinking shears, free motion stitched them to blank cards and hand stamped the word LOVE on them. Super fast and fun. (But apparently must go back and clip threads!) A really nice way to start off what I'm sure is going to be a lovely day.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

p.s. Color dilemma for the Nesting Chairs solved and I should have the fabric listed in the store within a week or so. I can't thank you guys enough for all the feedback and ideas. It was lots of fun to hear your thoughts and they were really a great help.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

So...before I ever post pictures of new fabric I'm getting ready to launch in the Etsy store, I always go through a several rounds of design, ordering of swatches, washing of swatches and only THEN do I take the photos, post the pictures on my blog and declare the fabrics ready to sell.

I follow this process this because I'm very particular about my colors, and because digital printing can be tricky with getting the color you're looking for and in getting the colors to hold up the way you want them to.

And I got so excited about this new Nesting Chairs collection that I broke my usual process (bad designer) and did not wash my fabrics before I snapped pics and posted them in my sneak peek post. Well... I washed the fabrics last night and 4 of the 5 are divine. Colors holding well and just what I had hoped.

BUT, I'm just not happy with the way the yellow background is holding up in this chairs fabric.(This is the pre-washing photo)

The large areas of uninterrupted yellow background are just not setting very well. (I've experienced this before with yellows and greens as well...) So what this means is that this design just isn't going to end up working out for digital printing in it's current incarnation. So, I'm going to have to reduce large fields of contiguous yellow in this design. Which makes me sad because I love it just like this... But that's nature of the beast.I've been tinkering with the colors and wanted to get your thoughts because I am really torn. It's also an interesting view into how much color modifications can really change the feel of a design.

#1: I started by simply swapping the colors (light grey background, yellow chairs and dark grey upholstery.) Not loving this...

#2: So then I tried mixing up the colors and making some of the chairs yellow and some dark grey but keeping the light grey background. Better, but not perfect...

#3: So then I tried swapping the light and dark grey and really not loving this at all...

So I'm left with a dilemma. I can keep tinkering with lighter and darker shades of grey which would probably make some impact, but frankly, what I really want is the one with the yellow background that I started with! But since that's not an option, of these 3, I am probably leaning towards #2.

So I'm going to delegate the decision to you guys. :)

Do I go ahead and kill the yellow chairs design and just launch the collection with 4 patterns? Or do I replace the yellow chairs with #2 above? Or do I keep tinkering with different greys?

My gut tells me that none of them will have the feel that I'm after (because I want the yellow background!) and that I should just put that design on a back burner for now and go with the 4 in the collection instead of 5. Aaargh!!! What do you think? Your feedback would be MUCH appreciated!

p.s. Heather and Ashley: You ladies asked about other color stories for this collection. :) I am thinking of aqua and orange but am still tinkering... Feedback from all encouraged of course!Of course, it would be a few weeks before I could get these tested and ready for sale. But what do you think?

Monday, January 10, 2011

I hope 2011 has started off with a bang for all of you. My year is off to a really wonderful start and I'm just feeling so positive about everything! For whatever reason, I just know 2011 is going to be a banner year.

I've been diligently working on new designs to license both for fabric and for other categories (like bedding, tabletop and home decor etc...). I can't believe that Surtex (the big licensing trade show in NYC in May) is right around the corner. It will be my second year exhibiting and the show will be here before I know it! I've already begun some early work on my signage and booth materials and am working on loads of new designs to add to my portfolio.

And in fabric news, I just got back my first Spoonflower samples of some new fabric that I am going to have available only in my Etsy store very soon. I've been pining for new chairs and couches fabrics for the store, so I'm so excied to announce that have a new collection called Nesting Chairs. The palette is a lovely shade of goldenrod yellow and some warm and lovely greys. There are 5 patterns in the collection. I'm still working on names for each so if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them. Just leave me a comment! :)

I'll be working to get the Nesting Chairs collection loaded into the store and for sale within the next week and will let you know as soon as they're available for sale. I just got so excited I wanted to share them with you!! I'd love to hear what you think.